Seeking to fill the void in community banking that was created with the closure of San Diego National Bank in 2009, San Diego Trust Bank plans to open a new location at 1110 Rosecrans St., Suite 101, later this summer. Raymond Simas, senior vice president and manager for San Diego Trust Bank (SDTB), will lead the expansion effort in the Peninsula. Simas has nearly 30 years experience as a banker in the Point Loma area, serving as vice president and manager of San Diego National Bank’s Point Loma office before joining SDTB in June of last year. “You’ve got some outstanding large banks [in Point Loma] … but working for a community bank, you are able to commit more time to the client and help them achieve their financial goals,” said Simas. “It gives us that opportunity to find out, ‘What is their need and how do we help them reach that?’ It’s a little hard to do with the corporate America structure at the larger banks,” he said. Simas is a native of the Point Loma area and has been an active member of the community throughout the years. He has served on the boards of the Peninsula YMCA, Peninsula Chamber of Commerce and the Point Loma Association, and is a past president of the United Portuguese S.E.S. He is currently a member of the Honorary Deputy Sheriff’s Association. SDTB operates banking centers in downtown San Diego and in Encinitas, and Simas said he is looking forward to expanding the institution’s services into his hometown. “I grew up in the Point Loma community and it’s a community that I know well,” Simas said. “It’s a lot of pleasant people who I either grew up with or know their parents or grandparents. So it’s a very small town and I enjoy that about San Diego, but especially about our Peninsula community, because you do have that homegrown, small-town feeling there.” For more information, call (619) 230-6521, or visit www.sandiegotrust.com.